Salford-based contractor PP O’Connor has been appointed by Celtic Technologies to carry out the earthworks, remediation and ground stabilisation required to enable the £170m modernisation of the Davyhulme wastewater treatment plant in Manchester.

The site in Trafford serves a population of 1.2million people. The upgrade is expected to improve the quality of the water entering the Manchester Ship Canal and it is expected to take 36 months to complete.

The modernisation programme involves remediation of previously abandoned land, followed by construction of six circular primary settlement tanks and a large activated sludge plant with 10 circular final settlement tanks.

PP O’Connor will excavate, sort and remediate around 250,000 cubic metres of the land to create three piling platforms onto which the new facilities will be built. Activity will include the on-site decontamination of soils and the crushing of excavated rubble and bricks for re-use within the works.

PP O’Connor is expected to be off-site by Christmas, when the project will be handed over to the main construction partners Laing O’Rourke and Imtech on behalf of United Utlities to complete the works.

Charmaine O’Connor, chief executive of PP O’Connor, said: “Our work at the Davyhulme Wastewater Treatment Plant will pave the way for the expansion and upgrading of this essential infrastructure site. As with all our projects, our aim is to recycle as much material as possible for re-use on the project, this will include treatment of contaminated soils and other excavated materials.”